NIT 2019: Eligible Teams, Tournament Format and Schedule

For all of the men's college basketball teams that won't be dancing in the NCAA tournament, there are no moral victories.

But there is the NIT, where those teams left out of the big show can still get an opportunity to tie off their season with a bow.

The bulk of the teams that qualify for the consolation tourney are mid-majors that fell short in their respective conference tournaments or ended the year as regular-season champions.

Here's a look at the tournament format, schedule and the eligible teams for the NIT, which runs from March 19 through April 4.

Eligible Teams

Automatic bids for the NIT are given to any team that is the regular-season champion of its conference but fails to earn a berth in March Madness.

The rest of the field is determined, regardless of conference, after all 68 teams are selected for the NCAA tournament.

Tournament Format

Once the 32 teams are revealed during the NIT selection show, the squads are split into four brackets.

The first two rounds of the take place on the campuses of the highest-seeded teams, while the semifinals and the championship game will be played in Madison Square Garden.

Like last year, there will be new experimental rules for the NIT. For example, one-and-one free throws will be eliminated in favor of two bonus free throws when team fouls are reset at the 10-minute mark of each half.

Additionally, like 2018, the free-throw lane will be widened and the three-point line will be extended to 22 feet, 1.75 inches.

Schedule

Sunday, March 17: Bracket revealed during "NIT Selection Special"

Tuesday, March 19 and Wednesday, March 20: First round at higher seed's campus

Thursday, March 21 through Monday, March 25: Second round at higher seed's campus

Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27: Quarterfinals at higher seed's campus

Tuesday, April 2: Semifinals at Madison Square Garden

Thursday, April 4: Final at Madison Square Garden

Four Teams Confirmed for NIT

While fans will have to exercise patience in learning what teams will play in the NIT, there are four team that are already on the board.

Last season's Cinderella darlings, Loyola-Chicago, lost 53-51 to Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference semifinal, so the Ramblers and Sister Jean Dolores-Schmidt, the team's 99-year-old chaplain, won't be going to the Big Dance.

They made it all the way to the Final Four and had most of America rooting for them until they fell to Michigan.

This year, they'll have to settle for the NIT. On the plus side, two of the best scorers in college basketball history will finish their careers in this tourney.

Campbell senior Chris Clemons (3,193 points) and South Dakota State senior Mike Daum (3,042 points) are fourth and ninth on the all-time Division I scoring list, respectively. Only 10 players have ever scored more than 3,000 points in Division I basketball and two of them are in the NIT.

Most college basketball fans wanted to see these two offensive dynamos compete in the March Madness and play their way to the "One Shining Moment" video, but that dream ended when Campbell was eliminated by Gardner-Webb in the Big South tournament and South Dakota State was beaten by Western Illinois in the Summit League tournament. 

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport.

Statistics obtained from ESPN.com.